TEHRAN: Fresh strikes rocked Iran and several Gulf countries on Friday (Mar 13), as Israel and the Islamic Republic unleashed a new wave of attacks in a war that has ignited the Middle East and threatens to torpedo the world economy.
Since erupting on Feb 28 with United States-Israeli attacks on Iran, the war has cascaded throughout the region, drawn in global powers, and sparked a major oil shock.
Unusually powerful explosions rattled Tehran on Friday morning, AFP journalists reported, as Israel’s military said it had hit more than 200 targets in western and central Iran in the past day.
The blasts shook the houses of two AFP journalists, located several kilometres apart in the north and centre of the Iranian capital, with black smoke pluming over the city.
Iranians speaking to AFP under cover of anonymity have painted a grim picture of life under the bombs, with cities in ruins and cash running short.
“People are desperately trying to withdraw their savings from the banks, as trust in them has vanished,” one 30-year-old woman in Kermanshah, western Iran, told AFP.
“Bread is now rationed. The population is extremely tense and outraged.”
